Before taking this class, I had the perception that designing an app related to behavior change would be mostly about usability (figuring out the right features, making sure it was functional, and refining the user experience). But after this class I realized how much design is actually about understanding people—their motivations, habits, and emotions. I feel like a big part of what I learned in this course had a lot to do with human psychology which was a very new experience to me and honestly shaped so much of this class. I initially thought that as a product worked how I intended, people would use it. But this class made me realize the importance of understanding the real reasons behind a behavior for it to add real value to people’s lives.
I also learned a lot about procrastination itself. More specifically I learned that procrastination isn’t just about forgetting to work and is more emotional—people avoid tasks due to stress, self-doubt, or feeling overwhelmed which can all be triggers. This was super fruitful because as a student I found myself reflecting on my own triggers with procrastination through doing all the ground synthesis and other analyses. This showed me just how valuable these exercises are at identifying patterns and finding triggers.
I did this work with these experiences…
One of my biggest struggles this quarter was trying to come up with an initial interface. I felt stuck trying to translate our abstract ideas into something more literal. What really helped me for this particular assignment was looking at comparators to see what I liked and disliked about these platforms which then really helped me contribute to group ideas on what our MVP should look like.
Another challenge was making sure that my teammates and I had an aligned vision for the product. What helped with this was working on group ideation activities first before splitting tasks. The few times we had to work on things asynchronously without having properly reached a conclusion first, it was evident that we had slightly different visions. In scenarios like this we would have to call or communicate over text to unify our vision first. The mood board exercise also really helped unify our thinking. By visually mapping out the design language and feel of our product, we aligned on a shared vision, which made later decisions much smoother.
Ethical Considerations
A big ethical challenge in our project was how to use accountability and social pressure without creating unhealthy competition. Social pressure can be a powerful motivator but based on discussions we had in class we also were very cautious about the fact that it can cause stress, self-doubt, or addiction if done incorrectly.
To prevent this, we made several key design choices:
- Only friends can see each other’s progress
- A calming UI with dark blues and not too many out-there designs so it doesn’t add to the users stress or seem excessively gamified
- Instead of highlighting what users hadn’t done, we focused on celebrating progress.
We wanted to design for well-being and productivity. The goal was to really help users feel better about the way they approached their tasks.
Now I think this…
As I mentioned before, my biggest takeaway is that design isn’t just about functionality—it’s about shaping behavior. Small choices in an interface can subtly influence how people interact with technology, and those choices carry ethical weight which takes many iterations to work on and fix.
Our class discussions on nudging vs. manipulation made me much more aware of the hidden ways technology influences behavior. Now, when I see a product, I don’t just think about how it works but also about how it’s steering user behavior and whether it’s getting in the way of user agency. This has made me more critical of tech in general and more thoughtful about not only my future design endeavors but also the products I use.
Next time, when faced with a similar situation, I will…
If I take on another design project, I would similarly spend the bulk of my time understanding the problem.I also see the value of structured design exercises. Before this class, I might have skipped things like mood boards or assumption maps, thinking they were unnecessary. Now I truly appreciate the value in how they help align teams and create things that add real value to people’s lives.
